HST Quilt top DONE!

I LOVE it!

It turned out so well and I'm really looking forward to quilting each little block. It's going to be so much fun.

HST Blocks finally completed!

Around August I kind of got outta the groove of making the Half-Square Triangle blocks and slacked off for the rest of the year. I got a burst of energy after the start of the New Year and decided to knock these out.

August

September

October

November

December

I'm really looking forward to finishing up the quilt and plan on using it as my first long arm quilting project of the year. So excited! I've already got ideas of what I'm going to do...hope it turns out as good as I'm picturing it in my head...we shall see. :)

June & July HST blocks

I'm a little behind with the half-square triangle blocks but at least I've got June & July completed before August rolled around.

June

July

I'm finding with HST that how you press the seams really really makes a difference in how the finished block comes out. It's a little tricky though because you sort of have to plan it out from when you first create the HST. So depending on how energetic I'm feeling the outcome of the block can either be really great or sort of okay.

May HST Block

I laughed out loud when I saw the block for this month for the In Color Order Half-Square Triangle QAL.

It's almost identical to the blocks I made for the Nubee blocks I made just a little while ago. This one went together pretty quickly. :)

April HST Block

This block went together perfectly! No bulky craziness, no ripping out stitches. So pleased with how it turned out.

I 'think' I might be getting a hang on these half-square triangles. ;) {crossed fingers}

March HST Block

My January block was 13 1/2" square (sort of), February block was 12" square (again, sort of.)
March block came out exactly right. 12 1/2" square (mostly).

Emme feels it is necessary to be a part of any project I'm currently working on:

A little of this, a little of that

I've been putzing around my sewing machine. Finishing odds & ends. My sister-in-law's b'day is this week and I was told she was wanting to get a sewing machine so I made this for her:

Not the sewing machine, but the nifty little caddy that hold's stuff. I found the tutorial via Pinterest. God bless that site. I put the above photo & a little something to go towards the sewing machine in one of the pockets. I wasn't sure she'd know what it was without some sort of reference. It went together really quick and made me think I should make one for myself. All in good time. ;)

I did sew up my February block for InColorOrder's Half Square Quilt-a-long.

This one was a pit of a pain for me to get lined up as well. I'm thinking I may start pressing my seams open. It also turned out about an inch smaller all the way around than my January block. Reviewing the January instructions I realized that I didn't square each block to 3.5" before sewing each block together, which I did do for the February block. So, which block should I redo? Who knows. I'm leaving them for now. 

My curves class starts this week and I'm trying not to start any new projects so I can focus on the class. It'll be a whirlwind of curvy sewing.  Plus I've been working on the block for the Quilt Bee I signed up for and so far I don't have anything photo worthy.

January Half-Square quilt block

I've got my fabrics all chosen for the 2012 Half-Square Triangle Quilt-a-long, a few fat quarters from Moda's Butterscotch & Roses and a really dark gray polka dot that I'm going to use as the 'neutral'.

I'm going to use a great lime green houndstooth for the sashing & border and I hope it turns out okay. I really like the idea of the green breaking up the charcoal gray and I really like houndstooth. I hope I don't get too impatient waiting for the blocks each month. I'm sure I can keep myself busy with other projects. ;)

The block of the month for January is the Sawtooth Star. I decided to use the alternative method to put it together. Half-square triangles are definitely a work in progress for me. I was so excited to get started that I was zooming through and making a mess of it. I ripped out several seams and put it back together and ended up with this: 

Not perfect, but not too bad either. I'm looking forward to seeing how my skills get better from month to month. Hopefully I won't mind putting a January block in the same quilt as a December block. ;)